Mission Statement

The photograph has greatly influenced our visual heritage and is a medium practiced by countless people worldwide.  Our Mission is to provide students a quality photographic education in the area of technique, aesthetics, creativity and content, and historical and contemporary trends in photography.

We strive to provide both commercial, and fine art students, access to state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and to instill a strong sense of photographic history as well as grounding in current photographic theory. Digital and traditional approaches to the medium are explored as both represent the historic and current trends in the industry.  We believe the many aspects of fine art photography inform and improve commercial work and vice versa; this multi-disciplinary philosophy underlies most of our curriculum.

Photography has gone through significant technological changes since the development of electronic imaging.  Photography education in the 21st century must maintain relevance to meet the needs of contemporary students.  Photography instructors have an opportunity to create a dynamic new paradigm that blends the full spectrum of the photographic experience.

Program Description

Butte College’s Photography Program offers two areas of training for students interested in a career in photography: a major in Commercial Photography and a major in Fine Art Photography. Courses in digital and traditional photography provide a strong foundation for either career path.

While commercial photography classes’ offer an emphasis in technique to enable students to 
create images to professional standards, fine art classes offer instruction in the manipulation of 
materials, creative expression, development of a personal esthetic and presentation in order to allow photographers to create a strong personal response to personal issues as well as those in the world around them.

However, we strongly encourage students to participate in both venues; since artists can benefit 
from strength in technique and a strong personal esthetic can give a commercial photographer the 
edge needed to be successful in their chosen career. This unique integration of the two areas of 
photographic expertise, often separated educationally, is one reason why the program is 
recognized by the community at large as one of the strongest and most diversified photography 
departments in Northern California.

Our courses are taught by experienced instructors with years of expertise and knowledge in both the commercial and fine art avenues of photography.  To continue providing excellent instruction in our diverse range of classes, two new associate faculty members have been recently added to our program.

Our course offerings are as follows:

AS DEGREE IN PHOTOGRAPHY– 60 units
The major consists of 26 units.
Changes: The required units for the AS Degree in Photography have been changed from 46 units to 26 units.  12 out of the 26 units are core classes (family of classes) with 14 additional units from other required courses for the major.  The changes in unit load will permit students to complete the major within one year.
The following four core courses are the photo family of classes: 12 units

PHO 2 Introduction to Photography – 3 units
PHO 4 Color Photography - 3 units (P) OR PHO 6 Black and White Photography – 3 units (P)
PHO 8 Commercial Photography - 3 units (P)
PHO 7 Stock Photography - 3 units (P)

Butte College photography classes also serve the rest of the college community since they are 
prerequisites for other areas of study: Art, Graphic Design, Telecommunications and the Media 
Services Program is representative. Many students have returned to inform us that an overall 
knowledge of photography was the skill that caused an employer to choose them over another 
applicant otherwise equally qualified for the job.


	

Student Learning/Administrative Unit Outcomes

AS Degree in Photography
1. Execute technical, aesthetic, and conceptual decisions based on an understanding of art and design principles.
2. Produce photographs suitable for seeking career opportunities in photography.
3. Solve creative problems in photography, including research and synthesis of technical, aesthetic, and conceptual knowledge.
4. Communicate photography concepts to specific audiences using proper visual, oral, and written presentation skills.
5. Evaluate photographic works, including their own, using professional terminology.

Certificate in Professional Photography
1. Demonstrate the safe use of photographic equipment in the studio and on location.
2. Produce photographic images for a variety of applications including industrial, medical, product display, architectural, portrait, food and fashion modeling.
3. Use computer software to edit and enhance photographic images for a variety of media including magazines, newspapers, brochures, television, and the internet.
4. Produce a selection of photographic images for a professional resume.
The Photography area has been without Full-time leadership since the retirement of Dennis Wickes several years ago.  I began to manage this area this past Fall.  An excerpt from Fall 2014 SLO report illustrates the challenges we face when an area is staffed only with Associate faculty:
"The photography instructors could not meet in person as they are associate faculty and their full time jobs made such a meeting impossible. Instead, the group shared the results of their individual assessments via email. In summary, it became apparent that each instructor needs to spend more time with the basic concepts of photography such as terminology to insure that students have the proper theoretical perspectives to properly analyze a portfolio of photographs for their technical and artistic qualities.
The group decided that it might be helpful if they collaborated on developing a glossary of commonly used photographic terms that would be included in all photo classes to insure that all students were exposed to the same  information and held accountable to similar standards of performance. This will help insure that all photo students, regardless of which class they take, will be exposed to the same basic body of technical knowledge required for future success."
This also serves to highlight that instructors Michelle Davis, Elizabeth Kuiper, Jenn Daly, and Michael Agliolo are endeavoring to collaborate the best they can to improve student success relative to SLOs and PLOs.
 

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (OSLED Departments)

			College			Program
Indicator	Source	2013-2014 Performance	Standard	Five Year Goal	Fall 2014 Performance	Standard	Five Year Goal
Course Success
-          Overall	PDR	71.1%	70%	73%
-          Transfer/GE	PDR	71.5%		73%
-          CTE	PDR	75%		77%	76.8%	70%	80%
-          Basic Skills	PDR	51.7%		55%
-          Distance Ed (all)	PDR	62.5%		64%
Persistence (Focused).  Note:  The Persistence (Focused) that is included in the PDR is a different indicator than the three-primary term persistence indicator, from the state Student Success Scorecard, that is used to measure institutional persistence.  The Focused Persistence indicator measures the percentage of students that took a second course in a discipline within one year. There is no relationship between the college and program standards in this area.	PDR	72.6%    (Three-Term) Scorecard	67% (Three-Term) Scorecard	75% (Three-Term) Scorecard	35.3%	30%	45%
Degrees	PDR	1,455		1,600	9	5	15
Certificates	PDR	366		475	CC: 15	CC: 10	CC: 20
Developmental Strand Completion
-          English	State	42%		45%
-          Math	State	30.7%		33%
-          ESL	State	25%		28%
Licensure Pass Rates
-          Registered Nursing	SC
-          Licensed Vocational Nursing	SC
-          Respiratory Therapy	SC
-          Paramedic	SC
-          Cosmetology	SC
-          Welding	SC
Job Placement Rates	PIV

                                            The Photography program is in compliance with the standards. Success rates for this program are at the mid-point of the four year range (68.6% - 80.7%). These success rates are actually very good, and are better than characterized here: 78% is not mid-point; it is upper range (78% is closer to 80% than it is to 69%).  That said, success rates can be improved by better coordinating course content and sequencing.  We are already discussing this, and plan to revise our curricula and offerings accordingly.  Degree production is at the high end of the four year range (5-9) and local certificate production is at mid-range (11-18). We should celebrate the degree production figure at the high end and commend the Associate Faculty that are responsible for teaching all the courses in this discipline.  We can look into the suggested large-unit certificate.    Focused Persistence is now 35.3%. This is at the mid/low-range over the past four years (30.4% to 45.5%). Fill rates tend to be fairly high. We can continue to improve persistence by restructuring and streamlining the program for both the degree and certificate programs.

Standards/Goals for Student Achievement (All Other Departments)

NA

Strategic Direction

Practicing strategic enrollment management that integrates financial planning with student need and achievement. 

We tailor our Photography class schedule to meet student demand and ensure that both art majors, who need specific courses for degree completion, and non-majors who need a course for other reasons, are able to enroll in the courses they require. 
Strategic Scheduling 
We plan to restructure and streamline the course offerins and program to better prepare students for work in the field and for transfer.

Program Review

I was not able to find the Program Review reports for Photography when I followed the link provided.  As I did not have jurisdiction over this program until this academic year, and was not involved in their Program Review, I am unable to complete this section at this time.  Please provide a link to this Program Review Document.

Department Goals

1.  Enhance the quality of instruction in our core classes.
2.  Update and better coordinate our curricula.
3.  Measure and report SLO and PLO attainment in all of our Photography courses.

Future Development Strategies

Requested Non-Financial Resources

Current Financial Resources

Augmentation Requests

Original Priority	Program, Unit, Area	Resource Type	Account Number	Object Code	One Time Augment	Ongoing Augment
Description	Supporting Rationale		Potential Alternative Funding Sources		Prioritization Criteria
1	Photography	Personnel	11-000-512-1-101100	52210	$0.00	$7,384.00
Year Round Lab Technician Support	1,2,3,4 (all letters), Restore reduction of Photo Lab Tech, Davin Schreindl's position to 12-months per year.				Resolving health, life, and safety issues Maintaining core programs and services
2	Photography	Operating Expenses			$0.00	$2,500.00
darkroom expenses	State law forbids using lab fees to pay for darkroom chemicals and other classroom supplies. This augmentation will cover the annual cost of required materials that are absolutely required to offer PHO 2 and other photo classes that use the darkroom				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
3	Photography	Equipment			$10,000.00	$0.00
4 Omega LPL 670VCCE 6x7cm Variable Contrast Black & White Enlarge	current enlargers are 20 years old and are obsolete…they need to be replaced with state of the art hardware				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
4	Photography	Equipment			$4,500.00	$0.00
Beseler Audible/Repeating Enlarging Timer	Current dark room timers don't give accurate results which are critical to proper printing procedures				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
5	Photography	Equipment	11-000-512-1-101100	56410	$3,000.00	$0.00
5 Nikon Digital cameras – D5100 model	1A, 3B, Nikon digital cameras for taking hi-rez DSLR images.				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
6	PHOTOGRAPHY	Equipment			$1,800.00	$0.00
5 SLR Film Cameras	These cameras are needed for our core PHOTO 2 course, and our present cameras are old and prone to malfunction.				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
7	Photography	Equipment	11-000-512-1-101100	56410	$2,000.00	$0.00
3 studio mono lights	Needed to add flexibility to our current studio lighting set up. Also useful for training students to use the same kinds of lighting used in the professional industry.				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
8	Photography	Equipment	11-000-512-1-101100	56410	$300.00	$0.00
3 Handheld light meters	1A, 3B, 3 Handheld light meters for use in photo studio.				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
9	Photography	Equipment	11-000-512-1-101100		$800.00	$0.00
UV Light Box	An Ultraviolet (UV) Light box is needed for non-silver photography, such as cyanotype, van dyke and gum bichromate prints. While the prints can be produced with sun light, the UV Light Box is needed for times when weather does not permit and when very precise exposure is a necessity.				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals
10	Photography	Equipment	11-000-512-1-101100	56410	$3,000.00	$0.00
3 Medium Format Cameras	1A, 3B, Medium format cameras for use in photo studio.				Maintaining core programs and services Directly supporting meeting department standards/goals for student achievement and/or supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards and/or goals